Ministry is a demanding vocation; it mixes our personal walk of faith with the occupation that has to provide a salary to sustain our life and that of our family. In ministry, we develop meaningful relationships with fellow Christians while always being aware of boundaries that are both personal and professional. Events in the lives of those we serve have ways of bonding us to those individuals. Ministers are asked to be present after the birth of a child, at the death of a loved one, at weddings, at the bedside of those who are ill, at baptisms and the life changing experience of a conversion. At times, our emotions are so entangled with our function that we are not sure whether we are the one performing the ministry or the one being ministered to. More and more I hear people say that their ministry is messy and the stress is such that they are not sure if they have the energy to go on.
Rev. Fred Harrell of City Church in San Francisco wrote some of the following regarding ministry: “… [there] are unique pressures in being a minister - the relentless nature of preachingeach week, along with the unexpected crises we deal with on a regular basis that torpedo an entire week, and thus our preparation… I spend time with ministers who work themselves to death and are on the verge of emotional exhaustion while trying to produce a life changing sermon each week and it is deadening their soul. I know the theology well of trusting a sovereign God, the power of the Scriptures clearly proclaimed, as do they, and yet, the pressure is still a reality for all of us.”
So how do we prepare future ministers to deal with the messiness and stress? Is warning an individual enough? Is it even possible to educate a person about such matters? It is my opinion that it is in supervised ministry and Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) that we provide the best tools for dealing with the mess and stress of ministry. Dr. Archibald Hart offers the following advice to those encountering difficulties in dealing with the pressure of ministry:
Try to anticipate stressful events.
Resolve stressful situations quickly.
Build a strong personal support network.
Hart also suggests the following coping mechanisms:
Respond to stressors with direct action.
Learn a good relaxation exercise.
Set up internal boundaries for the work day.
Get enough sleep.
Enjoy the journey.
I have discovered personally, when the adrenaline starts to pump in my system due to emotional involvement or stressful circumstances I can feel it in my body and being. If I allow it to go on for an extended period of time without addressing it I will fall into a migraine cycle (cluster migraines). These migraines debilitate and increase the stress. This is different for each individual but I tend to think that everyone has some way in which stress negatively manifests itself. We all need to have means for dealing with the messiness in our lives. The points made by Archie Hart are practical and useful… I suggest them along with prayer and Sabbath observance as crucial survival mechanisms for those who find themselves in demanding and messy times.
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